


only sleeping

by whatamidoingeven



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Canon Divergence, F/F, Gen, actually an extension of canon events but, shipping is actually pretty subdued in this but it's there, tiny bit of background Yosuke feelings for Saki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-19
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-05-14 22:15:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5760901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatamidoingeven/pseuds/whatamidoingeven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>About the interim of inaction and action, and the words and relationships that end there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	only sleeping

“We need to go into the TV today.” Yosuke says.

“We can’t. We can’t face her.” Not yet, anyway- even Teddie realized that, when they had finally made it to the top of the castle and were bearing down on the door.

“Dude, are you crazy? It’s supposed to get foggy tomorrow! Don’t you remember what Teddie said about that?”

Souji shrugs. “Maybe the weather people are off. They’ve predicted rain before, and that doesn’t necessarily guarantee fog.”

“Partner, you can’t possibly be serious about that. _That’s_ what you’re relying on? Someone else to make a mistake?”

Souji doesn’t say anything, and maybe that’s for the best. It would take every break possible to beat...whatever it is that’s guarding Yukiko, and he trusts the odds of human error more than the off chance that the shadow will be weaker than his intuition tells him it is.  

“There’s...nothing I can say to change your mind, huh?”

Souji shakes his head. No, he’s already tried that enough for the both of them.

* * *

 

Chie corners him. “Souji-kun.”

“What’s-”

“We have to go. We have to save her!”

Souji turns his gaze at the ground. “We can’t, we’re- we’ll go tomorrow, okay?”

He hears rather than sees her slam her palm against the school’s hallway wall. “We can’t! The fog will set in tonight! Even that girl on the roof is predicting it!”

Souji doesn’t find the words, and instead, pushes her off of him. “We’ll go in tomorrow.”

“You- you idiot! Yukiko could- she could-” Chie yells after him as he walks away. “-we can’t leave her in there!” She adds, but even Chie can recognize the crack in her voice, the fragility behind her words.

It makes him turn on his heel, “We can. She’ll be fine.”

“You don’t know that! How can you even say that? You know how dangerous it is in there!” Chie’s not getting any quieter, and the people around them are starting to take notice.

Souji just can’t let that happen, and within a few steps, he’s back within range so he knows she’ll hear him. “We’ll save her tomorrow. Trust me.”

Chie does, and Souji spends the rest of the afternoon studying.

* * *

 

That night, the sirens, the fog, the head splitting migraine and Yosuke’s quiet, shaking voice on the phone tell Souji what he already knows.

* * *

 

Unsurprisingly, the reaction at school is unlike the reaction that followed Saki’s death. That had been easier for the students to accept, Souji decides. After all, she wasn’t exactly popular, and everyone had assumed she would eventually disappear one way or another.

Yukiko’s death is not swept under the rug so easily.

Of course there are a few students huddled in corners, whispering about skipping school because they don’t want to be next. And, as predictable and terrible as it is, there are flocks of boys who are somber, and quiet, mourning the loss of someone they did not know because of what could have been.

Souji doesn’t mingle with any of them, and instead, keeps his head down and to himself throughout the assembly that inevitably follows.

Yosuke says few words to him, though he makes sure to mention that they _have_ to catch this killer now, now that two of the three of them have lost people they loved.

Two of the three. Souji didn’t know Saki. He was aware of Yukiko for longer and through second-hand conversation with Chie, but he didn’t know her, either.

Souji nods, but says nothing.

* * *

 

Chie doesn’t come to school until the end of the following week, and when she does return, she does not speak to him. It surprises him less than he expects. If anything, Souji’s impressed- her self-control is so strict that she does not even so much as turn her head to the left throughout classes the day she gets back. It's nothing short of remarkable.

When Souji does manage to catch a glimpse of her face, her stare is blank, but not empty. There’s a goal in her eyes and a set in her jaw.

She doesn’t say much of anything to anyone, really, and no one dares to approach her. Quietly, Souji overhears her tell Yosuke that she won’t be able to do anything that Saturday, since it’s the day of the funeral.

He feels like he should say...something. But the words aren’t coming to him, and by the time he decides to speak up, Chie is already gone.

* * *

 

It’s another week and a half before they go into the TV world again, and nothing works. Even Teddie doesn’t greet them enthusiastically anymore- he’s quiet and somber. It doesn’t suit him.

Of course, silence doesn’t suit Chie, either, but at least she’s here. Souji didn’t even have to talk Chie into going, and the reason for that becomes apparent as soon as they land on the platform.

“We need to train up. Yosuke, do you remember the way to the liquor store?”

Yosuke nods. “Of course, and that’s- where’s Chie?”

Teddie shakes where he stands, but manages to stutter out, “I bear-bearlieve she went back to the castle.”

“You have to take us there!” Souji commands, and Teddie doesn’t mull it over.

The pair get there just in time to pull Chie back from the entrance.

“Let me go! Stop!”

“You can’t go in there, stupid! You can’t handle them alone!”

Chie struggles against the two of them, each trying to restrain an arm. “Fuck you! I can, I’m- I’m strong enough! I can take them out. I can still save h-”

“You can’t! Just- just stop! Once people d-die in here, they’re gone!” Yosuke’s voice is shaking, and his words are all air, surface with no backbone of conviction.

“I- I can’t let her- I can still…I have to save her! I have to talk to her! I have to tell her I, I...” Chie’s word sputter into sobs as she redoubles her efforts against them.

It’s Souji that silences her.“She’s gone, Chie.”

The cool monotone of his voice surprises even himself.

Chie turns to him, and he sees more emotion in her eyes then he has since the afternoon before the fog.

“I trusted you. ”

A chill shoots up his spine, and he pauses- it’s a moment’s distraction and it’s all Chie needs. With a swift round kick, she’s able to knock both he and Yosuke down, and she’s sprinting towards the castle too fast for either of the boys to catch up.

“Oh no, this is beary, beary bad!”

“What is it, Teddie?” Yosuke asks, standing back up and shifting his weight from foot to foot.

“I don’t know what’s happened but- that scary shadow from before has spread throughout the castle. You can’t go in there, Sensei! It’s too strong for you!”

“To hell with that! You think I’m going to let one of my friends get hurt while I stand by and do nothing?!” Yosuke yells, and turns to take off before Souji grabs at his arm.

“Don’t. We can’t fight that, and I need you- we need to find the culprit!”

Yosuke shrugs off Souji’s grip, “What’s the point of chasing around a culprit if you’re just going to let the victims die, anyway? Fuck that. If you won’t help me save Chie, at least _I'll_ have the decency to try.”

With that, Yosuke heads into the castle, and a throbbing, crippling pain ripples through Souji’s skull. He drops to his knees, and he all he hears as his vision starts to fade is the _clank_ of his sword falling next to him, Teddie’s panicked movement, and the distant sound of screaming.

* * *

 

When he opens his eyes, he’s greeted by deep, familiar blue, and a decision.

**Author's Note:**

> Have you ever watched or experienced that phone call when you don't rescue someone from inside the TV before the fog? Totally eerie stuff.


End file.
